The Man in the Van
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alex honnold is a climber whose van looks nicer than my apartment: https://www.google.com/search?q=alex+honnold+van&safe=off&cl... (granted my place is a shithole)
Excellent article about Alex Honnold that I submitted months ago and fell into the canyon. Makes you realize that fear is just a construct that can be minimized.
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/rock...
He's incredibly talented, very humble, and definitely destined to be a name remembered in climbing history.
Unfortunately, I have a horrible feeling his name will be remembered along side John Bachar and Derek Hersey. Free soloists, no matter how skilled, are living a dangerous life.
I used to solo in my younger days, until I had a hold break off around 100m off the deck at Arapiles. It's not you that kills you, it's nature.
I really hope he lives to a ripe old age and continues to push the limits, but I also hope he does it in a way that doesn't involve playing Russian Roulette with rock.
The benefits of this are huge! Cost of living is zero and he is not trying to keep up the star image and the costs associated with that. He is putting that $2M and his paychecks away and watching it grow and inevitably when he retires in the next 10 years from baseball he will have a nest egg that will sustain his lifestyle forever.
I spent nine months living in a van while traveling all over Japan. Flirted with excessive consumption for a few years in Tokyo but ended up coming back to frugality (although I live in an apartment now heh).
The good parts of living alone in a van are too many to list. The worst parts are 1) dating, and 2) all the fantastic views and vistas you don't get to share with someone.
> He named it Shaggy after a character in "Scooby Doo." He sings it songs and writes it poems and gives it Valentine's Day cards. He takes it for hiking expeditions in the mountains of Tennessee and surfing trips along the Carolina coast.
I so get this!!
I love this story because I love baseball and I'm saving up to buy a (1980s) Westy to travel with.
If you'd like another out-of-the-ordinary spring training baseball story, the Oakland A's have a pitcher who throws with both hands:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/pat-venditte-oakland-athleti...
I always wanted to do something like this--myself!
(My father did buy a VW van, but got sick. Like myself--he put off really living until it was too late. I'm glad I saw this story. It's a reminder I need to stop making excuses. Some of my excuses are legit--like harassment from cops for just looking like you live in a van.)